Ada Warns Koosa Doll Is Dangerous

December 4, 1985|By United Press International

WASHINGTON — The most potentially dangerous toy parents can buy this Christmas is a Cabbage Patch Kid ''Koosa,'' a consumer group said Tuesday, citing a collar on the doll that has been changed on the newest models.

The Consumer Affairs Committee of Americans for Democratic Action, in its 14th annual toy report, warned parents against buying the original stuffed Koosa animal and advised them to remove the collar immediately if their children already have one of the dolls.

The Koosa is the animal version of Coleco Industries' Cabbage Patch Kids, one of the most popular toy lines in recent history.

Committee chairwoman Ann Brown told a news conference that after her group researched the potential dangers of the doll's collar, it discovered Coleco had redesigned the collar but failed to issue warnings about the old ones.

She called on the Consumer Product Safety Commission to immediately recall the old dolls, which are still readily available for Christmas sales, ''before serious injuries occur.''

Brown said the newer collar has a buckle thet snaps away easily and is shorter, making it less likely to fit around a child's neck. Committee spokeswoman Judy Newman said Coleco denied the collar was changed for safety reasons.

Coleco officials could not be reached for comment.

Overall, Brown said, ''We've done a good job of educating parents'' in toy safety in recent years, but ''the danger still lurks.''

In response, commission staff member Doug Noble said he was sent to the press conference to report back to the federal agency. ''We're very interested in any information anyone can give us on toy safety,'' he said.

The commission, backed up by the toy industry, began a holiday toy safety drive last week, but Brown criticized the agency for failing to ''name names'' of dangerous items among the $4 billion in toys that will be sold between now and the end of the year.

Commission Chairman Terrence Scanlon, in releasing the names of 45 toys the government recalled last year, said the agency was ''not aware of any'' dangerous toys in stores this Christmas.

The committee also called on the CPSC to:

-- Investigate and possibly ban all baby walkers, which government figures show injured more than 15,000 babies last year.

-- Call for voluntary safety standards for portable hook-on baby seats, many of which have been found to have design problems in supporting babies.

-- Require a warning label on new suction cup baby gates, which can trap babies' heads if improperly used in doorways with baseboard moldings. This would be in addition to the ban on accordion-style wooden baby gates, which have been blamed for numerous choking deaths.